The Second Missionary Journey
Persecution at Philippi – The Philippian Jailer
Acts 16:25-40 KJV 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang
praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there
was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were
shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands
were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and
seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed
himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried
with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then
he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the
same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house,
he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let
those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul,
The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in
peace. 37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly
uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do
they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and
fetch us out. 38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates:
and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 39 And they
came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to
depart out of the city. 40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into
the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted
them, and departed.
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Introduction
In the last part, we saw that Paul and Silas were arrested for casting out the demon of the slave girl that kept disrupting what they were preaching. They were brought before the magistrates, stripped of their clothes, and beaten. It is apparent that Luke, Timothy, and Titus were not arrested because they did not appear to be Jews. No doubt there were physical differences in the five men. There would have been no uncertainty about Paul and Silas. They were typical Jewish men, known as such by their dress, their color (probably their skin was olive tinted and their hair dark), and probably by their accent.
The other three did not appear to be Jewish; Luke was Greek, Timothy was part Greek, and Titus was a Gentile. Their skin color and hair would have been quite different from Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:16–24 shows that religiously confused Gentiles can
hinder Paul's ministry as much as Jews. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are in Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. When Paul expels a demonic spirit from a slave girl,
her owners accuse Paul and Silas of illegally promoting a foreign god. The crowd and the city magistrates beat and imprison the pair. Only later do they realize their mistake: Paul and Silas are both Roman citizens (Acts 16:37), and you
can't
punish
Roman
citizens
without
a
trial.
https://www.bibleref.com/Acts/16/Acts-16-24.html
Roman Prisons
In the Roman world, imprisonment was rarely a long-term
punishment. Most prisoners were awaiting either trial or execution. Debtors could be imprisoned until their friends or family paid off the debt (Matt. 18:30). The length of imprisonment depended on a trial’s swiftness, which could
be drawn out for years, especially in political cases.
Conditions of imprisonment were closely linked to the status
of the prisoner. Non-Roman citizens, even of high status, were often harshly treated. In contrast, house arrest was 110
typically more comfortable for the prisoner, who was usually
physically chained to a guard but could still host visitors.
Paul experienced a wide variety of Roman prison conditions.
He was chained in a common holding cell in Philippi (Acts
16:23– 30), imprisoned in probably better conditions in the
praetorium at Caesarea (Acts 23:35), and held in relative comfort while in house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:16). In Rome, Paul was responsible for maintaining himself during
his imprisonment, including his meals and clothes (Acts
28:30). Paul’s Roman citizenship meant he was eligible for a daily food allowance, but Paul depended on his friends and
fellow believers to supply this food. While under house arrest in Rome, Paul was guarded around the clock by soldiers of the elite Praetorian Guard.
https://www.olivetree.com/blog/imprisonment-in-the-roman-world/
Stocks
Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of
stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing its use is cited by the orator Lysias: "“He shall have his foot confined in the stocks for five days, if the court shall make such addition to the sentence.” The “stocks” there mentioned, Theomnestus, are what we now call
“confinement in the wood”" ( Lys. 10.16)
The stocks, pillory, and pranger each consist of large wooden boards with hinges; however, the stocks are
distinguished by their restraint of the feet.
The stocks consist of placing boards around the ankles and
wrists, whereas with the pillory, the boards are fixed to a pole 111
THE CHIEF
and placed around the arms and neck, forcing the punished
to stand.
Victims may be insulted, kicked, tickled, spat on, or subjected to other inhumane acts. In the Bible, the treatment
of Paul and Silas, disciples of Jesus, was detailed in the Acts of the Apostles: "Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks."
The Old Testament's book of Job also describes the stocks, referring to God:
He puts my feet in the stocks, he watches all my paths.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stocks
https://www.bibletales.online/the-stocks/
Being placed in stocks only worsened their pain and misery caused by the stripes they had received. Physically, there was no way they could have any relief. It would seem that they should have been moaning and groaning because of the way that they felt physically and mentally.
Praises to God
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Instead of reacting as any normal prisoners would, Paul and Silas were praying, singing, and praising God because of their privilege of being able to suffer for Him. Dr. Albert in his comments on verse twenty-five, had this to say: “"And as they praised God in an hymn," gave to Him expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for His grace, salvation, and sustaining help for every need. The idea is they were singing prayer hymns," hymns of praise and thanksgiving.” Dr. Albert Garner, Power Bible CD, his comments on Acts 16:25
The rest of the prisoners heard them and were astonished that Paul and Silas were doing this. No doubt they would have reacted as any normal prisoner would have, not the way Paul and Silas were.
The Earthquake
Suddenly in the midst of their singing and praising, an earthquake happened.
Acts 16:26 states that it was a great earthquake, in so much that the very foundations of the prison were shaken. This caused all of the prison doors to come open and the chains that were binding anyone were shaken open.
Many will find a problem with the verse concerning the earthquake. There is the idea that Luke made it up after drawing from fables in secular history just to add some sense of divine power to the story. Historians say that there is no record in secular history concerning a “great” earthquake in Philippi at the time of Paul and Silas’ imprisonment. Therefore, it was only something that Luke dreamed up.
BUT we know that Luke was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Would the Holy Spirit allow Luke to write something that would have been false? Absolutely not! Could not God send a very localized earthquake that only included the prison and nowhere else? Yes, He could have, and that is probably what happened. A quake to the magnitude that would break open all the prisoners’ bonds would have to be very great, but when nothing else was involved, it had to be God’s divine power to cause it to happen. We need not be alarmed at so-called scholars denying the truth of God’s Word. There are actually some that think Paul did not even go to 113
Philippi. That’s okay. It is their problem to be wrong concerning God’s Word.
Earthquake Results
We will let the scoffers spew their drivel, but don’t tell the Philippian Jailer or any of his family that Paul did not visit the city of Philippi. Paul saved the Jailer’s life when he called out to him to not do himself any harm. The Jailer would have had to give an account for the prisoners’ absence with his very life. Suicide was approved by the stoics of the Greeks and Romans. It would have been expected of him to take his own life.
One of the results of “praise and worship service” Paul and Silas had was that the Jailer also heard what had been said. This caused him to realize that there was much more to these men that what he had been given to believe.
The Jailer was saved before they ever left the prison. His family was saved when he arrived home and had the gospel give to them. They all were then baptized.
This Philippian jailer realized in his soul that what the demon possessed damsel had said, for which Paul and Silas having
cast the demon out of the damsel, taking from her
shareholders their hope of monetary gain, they had been imprisoned- - -Remember the Divine message that God
preached thru this deranged damsel repeatedly was: "These men are servants of the most high God, which show unto us
the way of salvation," Ac 16:17. And now, this jailer asked to hear the old, old story - - - Paul didn't tell him; Silas didn't tell him; But "they said," neither waiting on the other, in the need of the moment- -"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," those needing salvation who will also trust Him, or believe in Him.1
The Jailer cared for the physical condition of the missionaries. Verse 33
relates to us that he “washed their stripes.” They had been given no care for 114
their wounds from the time they were scourged and placed into the inner part of the prison.2
When the new day arrived, the Magistrates gave instructions that Paul and Silas be released from the prison. They were about to receive a great surprise when Paul refused to leave without saying something about the affair.
Acts 16:37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly
uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do
they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and
fetch us out.
This certainly caused an attitude change from these officials. They had to personally release Paul and Silas from the prison. They were encouraged to leave the city as soon as possible. The officials certainly did not want the incident reported to Rome.
After regathering at the home of Lydia and meeting with the rest of the church there, they departed on their own accord. This would not end the trouble for the disciples but rather the beginning of it.
1 Albert Garner, Power Bible CD, his comments on Acts 16:31-40
2 IBID
Conclusion
It would appear that when Paul and Silas departed Philippi, their number was reduced. A close look at the scriptures, especially Acts 16:40 and 17:1, that Luke and possibly even Timothy stayed behind, no doubt to help and strengthen the fledgling church. Note the pronouns used in verse one in the highlighted section.
Acts 16:40 - 17:1 KJV 40 And they went out of the prison, and entered
into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they
comforted them, and departed. 1 Now when they had passed through
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Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a
synagogue of the Jews:
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